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Third Beaney Baron set for restoration

The Beaney has been awarded funding of £4,500 to restore a life-sized plaster sculpture depicting one of the barons that guaranteed the Magna Carta.

The grant from the Magna Carta 800th Committee will allow the restoration of Saher de Quincy, the Earl of Winchester. Quincy was a leading rebel during the civil war of 1215-17.

Once conservation work is completed by next April, Quincy will take his place in the Beaney alongside sculptures of two other Magna Carta barons, Stephen Langton and Robert de Fitzwalter. They were restored earlier this year and form the centrepiece of a current exhibition marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.

The funding will also be used to create a new permanent display of the sculptures in one of the Beaney’s permanent galleries, including a selection of learning activities linked to the Earl of Winchester.

Chairman of Canterbury City Council’s Communities Committee, Cllr Neil Baker, said: “We are very pleased to have secured this generous funding from the Magna Carta 800th Committee. These figures have a strong presence that connects Canterbury and our collections to the watershed event of 1215 and the individuals responsible for it.

“Our planned programme of restoration and a new permanent display will secure these sculptures for future generations and support our ethos of using our collections to inspire, learn, participate and create.”